Floral foam such as that sold under the Trademark OASIS, and available from the Smithers Company, Hudson, Ohio, is widely known and used as a means by which to support decorative arrangements. Floral foam is sufficiently frangible that the stems of flowers, and/or weeds, sticks or various other decorative materials can be inserted into the foam with relative ease and yet the foam is sufficiently strong that it can support the vast majority of decorative articles that are so inserted. The floral foam is readily received in a variety of containers, but it is sometimes difficult to secure the container to the surface on which it is to repose. The difficulty is engendered when the container is to repose on a nonporous surface. Representative of such surfaces are those of glass, plastic, ceramic, or metal. The difficulty is minimal if the surface if flat but becomes noticeable if the surface is slightly curved and is compounded when the surface is oriented in an inclined, or vertical, disposition, such as walls, or mirrors, in homes or offices and even windows of automobiles.
Hertofore, the use of suction cups has been attempted, but rather unsuccessfully. The use of a bare suction cup is not sufficiently reliable, and the prior art has, therefore, experimented with the use of a suction cup that is mechanically actuated to apply and maintain the sub-atmospheric pressure, or partial vacuum, within the cup necessary for it to adhere to the desired surface. One prior art attempt mechanically to actuate a suction cup employs a container that is attached to a suction cup and relatively rotatable with respect thereto, the relative rotation actuating the mechanism whereby to deform the cup, as required to cause it to adhere. Hence, the cup would be positioned against the surface to which it is to be adhered and while so maintaining the cup, the container must be rotated to deform the cup in order to reduce the air pressure therein. The required rotation of the container, however, renders it virtually impossible to orient the container at a desired, predetermined disposition. One could come close to the desired disposition by trial and error, but even relatively hardy arrangements can be damaged by the continued rotation and retrorotation required to achieve the particularly desired disposition.
Other prior art approaches have included the use of magnets on the bottom of the container. This may be satisfactory if the mounting surface is iron, but it is totally unsatisfactory with most other metals and with all non-metallic surfaces. If the mounting surface is not magnetizable, it has been suggested that a rubber pouch be employed to receive iron fillings and the pouch itself be anchored to the surface so that the container can be demountably secured to the pouch. No fully successful means for releasably securing the pouch has been suggested, and if the pouch is permitted to slide along the surface on which it is positioned, it can readily damage that surface.